“A New Day Is On the Way!”

Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-5

We’ve all heard the expression “Tomorrow is a new day.” It’s a great thought, but it’s usually offered in a situation that is anything but encouraging. Your business loses out on a new and very lucrative contract, and someone always says those words. Your engagement to the love of your life has just broken off, and your friend tells you those exact words. You have just lost the competition that you have been training for over the last 4 years, and your coach repeats those words.

And they don’t help. The truth is that everyone wants today to be that new day – a day filled with all kinds of good possibilities, a day that fulfills our dreams, a day that is truly new and wonderful. Of course, this saying goes right along with the other one – “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!” And that doesn’t bring much encouragement, either!

We want to think that this day is the best one of our life, and that tomorrow will be even better. But that seldom happens. We want today to be the new and best day, and that means that we want it to be the ideal and perfect day now, and it never seems to come.

It’s a matter of relativeness. We know that the illusive new day is coming, but we also have to know that we will never experience it in this life – that this life will never be perfect, but the day of the Lord will be exactly that – perfect and glorious and new in every way.

Read Isaiah 2:1-4

Think about the “new day” that the prophet is describing – quite something, isn’t it! This is the day that we want now, because the word is a prophecy of perfection.

Verse 2 begins with “In the last days”. It doesn’t say “On” the last day. It is plural, it is a range of days. I believe that these words refer to the millennial reign of Jesus. So let’s consider the words themselves – there are 4 of them.
First – the mountain of the temple (Mount Zion) will be raised up so that it is above all others.
Second – All nations will be drawn to that new mountain.
Third – The God of Jacob, Yahweh Himself, will teach from that place, and the people will learn his ways
Fourth – There will be peace.

Let’s take each of these individually.
First, Mount Zion was seen as the home of God, and for that reason, the temple was built there. It is not currently the highest in that area, but apparently, the Lord will see to it that one day it will rise above all the rest, and not only above the ones surrounding Jerusalem, but above every hill and every mountain on earth.
And you are wondering why God would do that! Because God is supreme, and if it is true that Jesus will be returning to earth at Temple Mount, the physical properties of the place must reflect the majesty and grandeur of the Lord.

Second, “all” nations, all people, all nationalities, will come to this place, for the express purpose of worshiping the one true God of heaven and earth. After all, if you heard that Almighty God, your Redeemer and Savior, had established himself someplace on earth, wouldn’t you drop everything, leave everything behind, and head out to see him? Of course you would, and so will everyone else.

Third, the great and glorious Lord will become our teacher again, just as Jesus was during his first time with us. But for Israel, the priests had been their teachers in ancient times, and subsequently, the rabbi’s had assumed that role, along with the Pharisees during Jesus’ first days. But IN THE LAST DAYS, Almighty God in Jesus Christ will become our immediate authority, and no one will have to speak on behalf of him.
He will be the judge who settles every dispute and will judge every wrong – no more human intervention to interpret the meaning of the law, to decide both punishment and vindication. He will speak his holy laws, and there will be no question as to what they mean.

And fourth, there will be true peace – a peace that convinces the nations to destroy all their weapons of war and hatred, and the people will be able to get on with everyday life without any fear of what may be coming tomorrow. There will be no more national pride, no more national aggression, no more offense, no more defense, no more misunderstanding, no more terror! It will be a time of peace unlike any other time in the annals of history.

Read Isaiah 2:5

“Let us walk in the Light of the Lord.” Notice that the previous 4 verses are written in the future tense – “The Mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established”; “it will be raised above”; “He will teach us his ways”; “The law will go out”; “They will beat their swords into plowshares” – These are the things that will happen “in the last days”.
But when we read verse 5, it is in the present tense – “let us walk”, not we will walk. Come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

This is what Advent is about – not just anticipating the Lord’s arrival, not just celebrating his coming as an infant, not just celebrating the fact that “one day” there will be peace. It is about walking in his light – his peace - today. Israel still waits for Messiah’s arrival, but Christians wait for Jesus’ return!
Jesus has already been here, and his glory has already established his supremacy above all others, and he has already taught us his truth and his law, and in his grace, we already have his peace in our hearts. And if we have all of those things in our life, we can, with the utmost confidence, walk in his light.

Remember that grand song – “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”?
“Hide it under a bushel, NO! I’m gonna let it shine.”
“Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine.”
“All around the world, I’m gonna let it shine.”
“Don’t let Satan blow it out, I’m gonna let it shine.”

The New Day of Christ is on its way, but until that glorious day arrives, we’re going to walk in the Light of the Lord, and we’re going to carry that glorious light wherever we go! Amen?
The Light of Advent is our witness to the world that a new day is coming, and that this New Day’s name is Jesus. Don’t let his light go out.